COMBAT STORIES FROM World War II

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Showing : WWII Videos

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  Marvin Russell - Army Air Corps +13 Total Videos

  407th Bomb Squadron, 92nd Bomb Group, 8th Air Force

  It was the day to practice bomb but there were no practice bombs available. The crews were allowed to take a pleasure flight anywhere they wanted. Marvin Russell's crew headed up to Atlanta, but they never got there after a close encounter with a tree.

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  LtGen Lawrence Snowden - Marines +16 Total Videos

  23rd Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division

  The first operation for the 4th Division was the landing on Roi-Namur. Lawrence Snowden remembers that, though it was an easy victory, valuable combat experience and important lessons were imparted on the Marines.

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  Jim Wicker - Army Air Corps +7 Total Videos

  22nd Photo Reconnaissance Squadron, 7th Photo Reconnaissance Group, 8th Air Force

  When he had to bail out, Jim Wicker was literally sucked from the cockpit when he released the canopy because of his high rate of speed. He was just a hundred miles inland a few days after D-Day and the Germans caught him almost immediately. As he sat in solitary confinement waiting for interrogation, he was comforted by his faith.

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  Marvin Russell - Army Air Corps +13 Total Videos

  407th Bomb Squadron, 92nd Bomb Group, 8th Air Force

  After bailing out over Germany, Marvin Russell couldn't find any of his crew where he landed. He found a Italian work crew and tried to get some civilian clothes from them, but he wound up in the hands of the Germans. He was taken eventually to a military base where he was subjected to a humiliating interview.

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  Bill Adair - Army +4 Total Videos

  Advisor to Philippine Army

  Bill Adair was suffering from the effects of a concussion when the battle for the Philippines came to an end for him. Along with thousands of others, he was forced to surrender and was facing the prospect of joining what would become known as the Bataan Death March. Then fate intervened in the form of an ambulance without a driver. Part 1 of 2.

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  Don Scott - Army Air Corps +8 Total Videos

  560th Squadron, 388th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force

  Two engines were out, a third smoking, and they were were losing airspeed and altitude, but they were flying level and pointed home. Then time ran out for the B-17 and Don Scott had to slip down the hatch into the slipstream. Part 2 of 3.

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  Marvin Russell - Army Air Corps +13 Total Videos

  407th Bomb Squadron, 92nd Bomb Group, 8th Air Force

  No one escaped during Marvin Russell's time in Stalag 17B, although there was one notable attempt. He was never tortured, unless you count the lack of food, heat and clothing.

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  Bill Garrison - Army Air Corps +6 Total Videos

  Chinese-American Composite Wing (Provisional)

  Bill Garrison was standing in a chow line when a man up the line suddenly dropped, shot dead by a sniper. That was only one hazard at the air fields in China; the others being Japanese air raids and infiltrators. (This interview made possible with the support of COL ROBERT W. RUST, USMCR (ret.) in honor of LtGen Lawrence Snowden & LtGen George Christmas.)

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  Bill Livingstone - Army Air Corps +14 Total Videos

  334th Bomb Squadron, 95th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force

  He bunked with regular B-17 crew members, but Bill Livingstone was a gunnery instructor who was there to keep skills sharp. He was also there to substitute for any crew member who was not able to fly. His very first mission turned out to be a memorable one. Part 1 of 5.

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  Bill Adair - Army +4 Total Videos

  Advisor to Philippine Army

  Bill Adair may have been the luckiest man in the Bataan Death march. With a commandeered ambulance full of casualties, he threaded his way through the ordeal thanks to luck and guile. At the end, though, there was a camp waiting for him just like all the rest. Part 2 of 2.

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  Hannah Deutch +12 Total Videos

  German Civilian

  Hannah Deutch was a teenager when the Kindertransport rescue effort became her means of escape from Germany. England was taking in thousands of Jewish children and she got her papers in order and left. Right away, as the oldest one in the large group, she became the leader on the journey.

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  Clyde Burnette - Army Air Corps +13 Total Videos

  713th Squadron, 448th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force

  It was their third mission over Berlin and they were heading home. Four German fighters pounced on the B-24 and it was engulfed in flame and going down. Clyde Burnette fought for consciousness as the other crew in the back of the plane bailed out. He woke in free fall with no idea how he had made it out, and soon he was in German custody. Everyone made it out of the plane except George "Danny" Daneau, the nose turret gunner, who went down with the aircraft.

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  Bill Toombs - Army Air Corps +8 Total Videos

  8th Air Force

  B-24 flight engineer Bill Toombs was over Germany when bad went to worse. One engine was shot out. Then an 88 round went right through the number four wing tank. It didn't blow up the plane, but they lost all the fuel for that engine, so now they had two engines out. They made a desperate run for Brussels, which had been liberated.

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  George Stamps - Army Air Corps +11 Total Videos

  510th Bomb Squadron, 351st Bomb Group, 8th Air Force

  During one mission, B-17 pilot George Stamps was startled when another formation of bombers passed through his at the same altitude. That was scary but the Germans had something that was also very frightening, the Messerschmitt Me 262, the first jet fighter.

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  B.E. Vaughan - Navy +9 Total Videos

  USS O'Brien (DD-725)

  After a nerve-wracking mission to bomb Tokyo and a typhoon, B.E. Vaughan and the destroyer O'Brien suffered a second kamikaze attack which killed all three of his hometown pals who served with him on board. Then, began the grim task of collecting the personal belongings of the dead and preparing them for burial at sea.

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  Henk Duinhoven +8 Total Videos

  Dutch Civilian

  Henk Duinhoven was in church with his family when the sounds of bombing started. The Allies had arrived in Holland. At first, there was jubilation, but that turned to fear as he hid in his basement for a week while the battle raged for Arnhem.

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  Rufus Dalton - Army +10 Total Videos

  397th Infantry Regiment, 100th Infantry Division

  Rufus Dalton was at the Maginot Line bouncing mortar shells off an old citadel. His unit was suddenly pulled and sent to take Patton's place in the line after the general was summoned to the Bulge. Once they got there, a fierce ten day battle ensued due to the last major German offensive, Operation Nordwind. Part 1 of 2.

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  Henk Duinhoven +8 Total Videos

  Dutch Civilian

  Near the end of the war, the food supply in Holland had been disrupted and there was widespread hunger. Henk Duinhoven was lucky to be in the countryside, where gardens had been harvested. When he heard the sound of Canadian tanks, he knew that liberation was finally at hand.

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  Ed Harrell - Marines +12 Total Videos

  USS Indianapolis

  Ed Harrell describes in detail the sinking of the USS Indianapolis from Japanese torpedoes, which left nearly 900 Sailors and Marines in shark-infested Pacific waters. Part 1 of 4.

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  Robert James - Navy +12 Total Videos

  USS Keokuk (AKN-4)

  Robert James was in the shower aboard ship when the alarm went off. He scrambled to his gun mount to man the 20 mm gun and then the threat became apparent. Kamikazes had broken through the air cover and were headed for the convoy. He heard some firing from another gun and turned around just in time to see a horrifying sight. Part 1 of 2.

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  Rufus Dalton - Army +10 Total Videos

  397th Infantry Regiment, 100th Infantry Division

  It was a fierce week long battle for the city of Heilbronn. Even though they were only delaying the inevitable, the Germans weren't beat, yet. Forward Observer Rufus Dalton went into the demolished city looking for a rifle company he was instructed to find. It was an eerie setting with the city in flames all around him. Part 2 of 2.

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  Robert James - Navy +12 Total Videos

  USS Keokuk (AKN-4)

  Robert James was propped up against a bulkhead, going in and out of consciousness. The kamikaze had destroyed the starboard gun mounts and there were many dead and wounded. He was grateful when someone gave him some morphine to ease the pain from multiple shrapnel wounds. This was the beginning of a painful journey to healing. Part 2 of 2.

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  Lyle Gittens - Army +10 Total Videos

  92nd Infantry Division

  The men of the 92nd Infantry Division had to fight on three fronts. They had to fight the Germans. They had to fight the racial animosity of their fellow soldiers and commanders. And they had to fight Congress, which wanted to maintain segregation in the Army. Lyle Gittens made it through all that with an undampened spirit.

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  John Souther - Army +8 Total Videos

  81st Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Armored Division

  On his first raid in North Africa, reconnaissance platoon leader John Souther captured a hundred Germans with no losses to his own unit. His job in the 1st Armored Division was to be out in front with his eyes open, and he was doing just that when a huge amount of enemy was spotted. Rommel's big push had begun.

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  Wes Ruth - Navy +6 Total Videos

  Utility Squadron 1 (VJ-1)

  Wes Ruth was eating breakfast when he saw the planes coming in. He thought they were ours until the bombs started falling. As he drove frantically to his hangar on Ford Island, he saw the USS Arizona hit. The Japanese had made their move. As a photo-recon pilot, he was dispatched as soon as the attacks ended to search for the enemy fleet.

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  John Souther - Army +8 Total Videos

  81st Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Armored Division

  John Souther was on reconnaissance patrol when he nosed his halftrack up over the edge of the gully in the Tunisian desert. A round from a German 88 immediately tore through the engine compartment, but left him unhurt. They paid mightily for that shot. With his radio, he began spotting artillery on their position, under fire the entire time. He was awarded the Silver Star for this action.

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  George Stamps - Army Air Corps +11 Total Videos

  510th Bomb Squadron, 351st Bomb Group, 8th Air Force

  After the end of the war, George Stamps had a different kind of mission. His entire bomb group would fly to Austria and pick up newly released French POW's and fly them home. It sounded simple.

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  Marvin Russell - Army Air Corps +13 Total Videos

  407th Bomb Squadron, 92nd Bomb Group, 8th Air Force

  As if a year in a German prison camp wasn't enough misery, when Marvin Russell was settling into life back home after the war, he suffered a serious injury which nearly took his life. Two things saved him, a new drug and an innovative doctor.

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  George Stamps - Army Air Corps +11 Total Videos

  510th Bomb Squadron, 351st Bomb Group, 8th Air Force

  The Germans had been chased back into their homeland. B-17 pilot George Stamps was taking his ground crew for a ride over the Ruhr Valley to see the damage their efforts had inflicted on the enemy. Suddenly, there was a call on the radio. It was over. The Germans had surrendered. Forget the Ruhr, we're going to Paris!

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  Marvin Russell - Army Air Corps +13 Total Videos

  407th Bomb Squadron, 92nd Bomb Group, 8th Air Force

  Somewhere in the spotty mail he received as a POW, Marvin Russell got the impression that his father had died. After his liberation and voyage home, he called his mother and got a big surprise.